End Game
A letter that would have been presented to the heroes of the Curse of Strahd module, should they all have survived.
Tagging relevant people: @just-etienne @nohookstobefoundhere @canis-umbrarum
To my comrades,
When a vampire spawn’s creator is killed, they often gain free will.
I killed my master, and with his death, my freedom.
It is with this notion that I returned to Barovia to free those who could not free themselves.
My story was the beginning of the end of Strahd von Zarovich. For as long as he may be allowed to return, I too will return. A never ending cycle that traps grandsire and spawn in battle.
My time with this party has come to an end, for I will see your end, too. A curse to watch those I stand closest die while I remain unchanged.
I have lived centuries.
And I will live centuries more.
We have surpassed the eye of the hurricane, but this is not the last storm amidst the seas.
I can only hope our success has changed your indifference. I can only hope that our success has brought you closer to what matters.
I can only hope that your stories too will find their resolution.
Mine will go unexplored, locked in that long forgotten mansion. Perhaps, a kindness to me. A past those I’ve come to care for dost not have to see.
The light of Apollo shines upon thee, and the darkness of the night cloaks me.
I leave with you my things.
The remainder of my gold split evenly amongst the party.
Our party treasury is within my now barren coffin at our temporary home. Please split the items as evenly as you can. I have taken the deeds and the letter, however. These are items that will aid me in the future.
I leave with you my possessions.
A longsword engraved with a name that no longer belongs to me. It is scratched out, but the last name stands proud. Von Constantine. Dubbed The Longsword of the Lost Light, it is a weapon wielded by the priests of Apollo.
The weapon is versatile, it can be wielded in one or both hands. 1d8+2 (1d10+2). You gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with my sword, in addition, it deals fire damage. The light of Apollo shines upon you, Ben.
As a long living creature, I bestow the Tome of Understanding upon you, Ciar. In a century’s time, you will be able to see the futures I have seen, understand what others may never get to understand. I hope it teaches you, I hope it keeps you learning, wanting.
With it, I leave my cloak, the Cloak of Peace. A gift from my master at my temple many years ago, before I died. It requires attunement, but it is a simple enough item. With it, you gain the protection of my God. While wearing the Cloak of Peace, you gain a +1 bonus to AC and saving throws. May our wisdom always find one another in the darkness. May the teachings of Apollo guide you.
And finally, Navin. I gift to you my flute, a humble gift, of course. But one with great power. It has no name, I obtained it as a gift for my service to the Gods beyond this realm. Hades, Apollo, the like. It, much like most my gifts, requires attunement to use it properly. Though, you could still use it for a lovely tune on its own.
Upon attunement, you can use an action to play the flute and cast one of its spells. Once the flute has been used to cast a spell, it can’t be used to cast that spell again until the next midnight. All spells cast using my flute have a save DC of 13 and an attack bonus of +5.
True Strike, Heroism, Calm Emotions, Enhance Ability, and Hypnotic Pattern.
I wish all of you luck.
Sovereign Liege Killian von Constantine, Cleric of Hades, Priest of Apollo.
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I'm quite grimly fascinated by the YouTube pen pal creator sphere. Like… first of all, these people are just putting their full name and address on screen, huh?
Also, Idk, it just feels kind of disingenuous that they're always all "It isn't about the decoration or the extras! A simple heartfelt letter is what's important!" when they've built their entire online brand around elaborately decorated letters—that they, again, show in full on screen to millions of people who are not the recipient—with a bunch of stickers and tea bags and bits of confetti and washi tape samples added as gifts on top of what's used for decoration. Like, I don't know, if you have to disclaim a million times that having a pen pal is Not A Stationery Swap and that people shouldn't expect to be given these things, maybe you could reflect for a moment on what may have created this impression?
Like, personally, I never for a second believed that I needed more than "just an ordinary sheet of paper and any pen at all uwu" to send a letter, so it's sort of baffling to be gently reassured by people spending hours of work designing a visual aesthetic for their letters that, of course, I don't have to do it like that. Like, yeah, no shit, Sherlock.
I mean, I'm all for people having fun with stickers and washi tape and markers and whatever, but I feel like they've created this very false barrier to entry that I'm not about. It's bullet journals all over again.
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